High Court Begins Hearing Pleas Challenging New SLST Rules

MP, 29 Nov 2025, Kolkata: The Calcutta High Court on Friday began hearing petitions questioning the legality of a new provision in the West Bengal Central School Service Commission (WBCSSC) Rules, 2025, which awards 10 marks to candidates with prior teaching experience in the recruitment of assistant teachers. Petitioners argued that the change, introduced just ahead of the 2nd School Level Selection Test (SLST) recruitment process, unfairly gives an advantage to first-time applicants at the pre-interview stage and alters the evaluation framework followed in earlier rounds of recruitment. They submitted that experience marks should be added only at the final merit list stage, so all candidates get an equal chance of being shortlisted for interviews.

Senior advocate Bikash Bhattacharya, appearing for the petitioners, said the apex court had ordered a fresh 2nd SLST and set December 31, 2025, as the deadline for completing recruitments, with no special concessions allowed even for candidates not individually linked to irregularities. He argued that introducing a new parameter that benefits only a segment of applicants creates room for arbitrariness. Bhattacharya also highlighted “inconsistencies” between the 2025 advertisement and the revised rules. The May 30 advertisement listed written examination scores, qualification assessment, interview, and lecture demonstration as the basis of selection but made no mention of teaching experience. The 10-mark provision was inserted into the rules only a day earlier, he pointed out, questioning whether the authorities could have assessed vacancies and secured the required administrative approvals within such a narrow window.

Justice Amrita Sinha said the court would hear any additional petitioners before taking submissions from the state and the WBCSSC on Monday